Improvement in adjustable lamp-wicks



G. FINLEY. AdjustablV Lamp Wick.

Patented Ap`ri| 28. 1863.

NA PETERS. Fhcm-umcgmpher. washington D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

GEORGE FINLEY, OF COLLINS TOWNSHIP, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENN- SYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTABLE LAMP-WICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,302, dated April 28,1863.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE FINLEY, of Collins township, in the county ofAllegheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Adjustable Wick-Holders for Lamps andI do hereby declarethe following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the annexed drawing forming part of thisspecilication, in which- Figure 1 is a representation of a lamp such asis ordinarily used for burning coaloil, with my improvements attached tothe burner. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation ofthe burner of the lamp,showing the relative position of the parts when the wick-holder and wickare raised to their proper position for burning the lamp to give a fulllight. Fig. 3 is a similar section to Fig. 2, excepting that thewickholder and wick are lowered for lighting the lamp, trimming thewick, or for burning the lamp without emitting much light. Fig. et is aside view of the adjustable wick-holder detached from the burner, toexhibit more clearly its construction.

In the several figures like letters of referl. ence denote similarparts.

In the use of oil lamps as now ordinarily constructed forburning coal orcarbon oil, consisting' of a perforated burner, frame, flat stationarylwick-holder, andcone or cap, and used with a glass chimney, there aretwo serious inconveniences, which it is the purpose of my improvement toremove. these is that it is impossible to get at the wick to trimit, oreven to light the lamp, with-V out first removing the glass chimney, andas it is sometimes desirable to trim the wick when the lamp has beenburning, and the chimney is very hot, and as the frequent removal of thechimney causes them to be often broken, some means of accomplishingthese objects without the removal of the glass is very desirable. Theother inconvenience is that the wick in coal-oil burners, as ordinarilyconstructed, cannot be turned down low and left burning with a small amewithout its emitting a quantity of smoke and oleaginous vapor, which isvery offensive.

My improvement in the construction of the burner by means of which Iaccomplish the desired result consists in lengthening the The chief of'l frame of the burner below the level of the base of the cone, andleaving openings in its sides of sufficient size to insert a pair ofscissors to trim the wick, or a piece of paper or match to light it, andin so constructing the wick-holder as to slide downward in the burner`so far as to bring the top of the wick-holder a sufficient distancebelow the level of the base of the cone and in range with the openingsin the wick-frame, so as to be easily reached from without, for trimmingor lighting. This move- 'ment of the wick-holder is in addition to, and

entirely independent of, the motion of the wick inside of thewick-holder, which is accomplished in the ordinary way by a smallspurwheel on a spindle. The wick-holder can be lowered in the burnerbelow the level ofthe base of the cone while the wick is alight, andwhen thus depressed the flame is removed from the inuence ofthe currentof air created by the cone and glass chimney, and on turning down thewick it will burn with a small flame without sensibly emitting smoke orvapor, and giving scarcely any light.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improved burner,I will proceed to describe its construction.

In the several ligures of the drawings, a is the burner-frame, which maybe of the usual shape, but considerably longer from the crown b to itsbase c than is usual, and instead of that portion of the burner-framebeing perforated with small holes, large openings are left to admit offree access to the wick. The cone or cap d is of the ordinary shape, andplaced as usual in the crown of the burner, and the glass chimney isplaced in the b, over the base of the cone d.

To the center of the base c of the burnerlike the ordinary wick-holder,and is similarly attached to the burnerframe, but it does not extend sofar up into the burner-frame, and ithas a slotin one sideto allow theprojection of the rack-work fon the side of the adjustable wickholder g.The wick-holder g is of the usual shape, beinga at tube, and is made tofit accurately in the sleeve e, in which it is made to slide up and downby means of a rack, f, attached to one side of the wick-holder, and apinion, h, on a shaft, 7c, the bearings i of which are attached to thesleeve e, on either side of the rack f.

The shaft 7c projects through the burnerframe a, and terminates in abutton, l, by turning which the wick-holder g is elevated or depressedat pleasure. mis wire-gauze plate, which is in the crown of theburner-frame below the base of the cone d, and has an aperture, a,through which the wiek'holder passes. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) A

On the otherside of the wick-holder g to that on which the rack f isplaced is a small spur-wheel, o, on a shaft, p, the teeth of thespurwheel o entering a small slot in the wickholder, so as to elevate ordepress the wick in the ordinary way. Thus the wick may be raised orlowered entirely independently of anymovementof the wick-holder, and so,also, the raising or lowering ofthe wick-holder does not in any wayaffect the relative position of the wick in the holder. To secure theproper height of the Wick-holder relatively to the aperture in the coned, when the wick-holder is raised, the upper end of the rack j' is soplaced as to come in contact with the edge of the wire-gauze plate m, asseen in Fig. '2, and the shaft p of the spur-wheel o comes in conttctwith the upper edge of one ot' the open'n gs in the side of theburner-frame a', as seen in Fig. 1.

When it is desiredA to light a lamp having' my improved adjustablewick-holder, the wickliolder is lowered by means of the button tto theposition shown in Fig. 3. A taper or match may then be introducedthrough one of the apertures in the burner-frame, and the wick islighted. It is turned down by means of the spur-wheel o, so as to reducethe size of the ame, and the wick-holder may then may be raised up tothe position shown in Figs. l and 2, and the wick then turned up in itswickholder to give a suiiicient flame.

1t' it is, desired to lower the flame or to trim the wick, thewickvliolder is turned down by the button l until thc top of the wickand holder is below the level of the base of the cone, when it can bereached with a pair of scissors through the apertures in the burnerframe5 but before raising or depressing the wick-holder the wick shouldalways be turned down in its holder by the spur-wheel o, so as to reducethe edge ot' the ilame, as otherwise the lamp will smoke.

I am aware that wick-holders have been made having a slight up-and-downmotion accompanied by a relative motion ef the wick inside of thewick-holders, for .the purpose of regulating the distance of the top ofthe wick from the aperture of the cone, so as to produce the properamount of light. I do not therefore claim, broadly, a movablewickholder, nor yet do I claim the use of a rack and pinion forproducing the required degree of motion of the wick-holder, as that isan old device, and any other equivalent means of producing the elevationand depression ot' the wick-holder 'may be adopted; but the loweringofthe wick tube' or holder without any relative motion of the wickinside of its tube, so as to bring the top of the wick below the base ofthe cone or cap, and out of the influence ot' the current ot' airproduced by the cap and chimney, and so constructing the lower part/ofthe burner-frame that the wick can be reached for lighting or trimming,.without removing the glass chimney, when the wick-holder is thuslowered, I believe to vbe new; and f I therefore claim as my inventionand desire to secure by Letters Patent- Constructing and arranging thewick-tube in relation to the burner and cone or cap of lamps,substantially as hereinbefore described, so that the wick-tube may bedepressed at pleasure so far as to bring the top ot' the wick below thebase ot' the cone or cap, and awa-y from the intluence of the draftproduced by the cone, the burneri'rame below the cone being furnishedwith an opening or openings through which the wick can be lighted ortrimmed, for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereot` I, the said GEORGE FINLEY, have hereunto set myhand.

GEO. FINLEY.

Witnesses:

W. BAKEWELL, M. G. CUsHiNG.

